with their courage and humanity our cnn heroes are still lighting the way inspiring others to follow their example. i'll be there sunday night at 8:00 eastern for cnn heroes an all-star tribute. hosted with my colleague, anderson cooper. you don't want to miss it. it will be a cracking evening. good sunday morning to you all. it's me, t.j. holmes on this december 11. welcome to you all, and a special welcome to our military men and women watching on the american forces network. thank you for being here, and thank you for what you do. now, we'll tell you what you may have missed last night. yes, there was another republican presidential debate. once again, this one did not disappoint. newt gingrich learning what it's like to be the front-runner. the subject of a lot of attacks. we'll explain. also, another black eye for

major league baseball. one of its biggest young stars may have to sit out 50 games for breaking the rules. yes, the national league mvp now facing allegations of substance abuse in baseball. also, thousands in the streets in russia protesting against the government. now here at the top of the hour, let's start this morning. some of the headlines, the republican presidential debate in iowa. the new front-runner newt gingrich was the target of much of the night. his rivals lining up to take shots at him. mitt romney called him a career politician. rick perry called him out for marital infidelity. almost all criticized his recent

comments when he called the palestinians a "invented people." we'll have much more on this debate in a moment. also, american forces have left an air base in pakistan and taken their drone planes with them. pakistan told the u.s. to leave the base after a nato air strike killed two dozen pakistani soldiers last month. today was the deadline pakistan gave for all 51 americans on the base to leave. manuel noriega is on his way to panama as we speak. the former leader is being sent back by the french government to possibly face a trial for the killing of one of his political opponents. noriega was removed from power by the u.s. some 22 years ago. he spent two decades in a u.s. prison before heading to france. also, the amateur athletic union, the aau as it's known, says it's working with police to investigate allegations of sexual abuse against former director robert "bobby" dodd. two men say me molested them in

the 1980s. the 63-year-old dodd left the aau last month. he's undergoing treatment for colon cancer. the aau says dodd denied the allegations when they first surfaced last month. and national league mvb ryan brawn could miss the first 50 games of last year because he tested positive for a banned substance. synthetic testosterone was found in braun's system when he was tested in october. he is appealing the test. a spokesperson for braun said there were highly unusual circumstances surrounding the case and that the milwaukee brewers all-star will be cleared. another sports story. a nasty one. look at this mess. this is a crosstown rival. became an all-out brawl. the end of the game between xavier university and their rival, university of cincinnati. this started shortly after xavier's point guard taunted players and coaches on the cincinnati bench. there will no doubt be

suspensions after officials review this game. again, this happened just with about ten seconds left on the clock, at the very end of the game. xavier won. i want you to stick around later. we'll hear a couple of the players react in a post-game interview. you will not believe the foolishness that came out of these players' mouths. stick around for that. it will upset you even more than that video. last night's republican presidential debate. paul steinhauser was there and has the fireworks for you this morning. >> reporter: as expected, the new front-runner in the race, newt gingrich, was in the line of fire from questions over his conservative credentials to controversial comments about the palestinian people to his acknowledged of marital fidelity. he came under attack from his rivals in the nomination. here's how it played out. >> we have differences of viewpoint on some issues. the real difference i believe is our back dproindgrounds. i spent my life in the private sector. i understand how the economy works. >> let's be candid. the only reason you didn't

become a career politician is you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. >> wait a second. we're going to tell the truth, but we're not going to throw incendiary words into a place which is a boiling pot when our friends, the israelis, would probably say "what in the world are you doing?" >> sometimes it's good to have a president who tells the truth such as ronald reagan who called the soviet union an evil empire. >> if you will cheat on your wife, cheat on your spouse, then why wouldn't you cheat on your business partner, or why wouldn't you cheat on anybody for that matter? >> ooim i'i've made mistakes at had to go to god for forgiveness, i'm also a 68-year-old grandfather. i think people have to measure who i am and when i'm not a person they can trust. >> reporter: call this round one. the candidates team up again on thursday night for another debate right here in iowa. on tuesday, that marks three weeks until the iowa caucuses. the first contest in the presidential primary caucus calendar. for these candidates, the clock

is definitely clicking. t.j.? coming up, the chicago police department, you know what, sometimes the police officers, they are just right on time with the crimefighting. a newlywed couple got the dress in time thanks to the cops. we'll explain on this cnn sunday morning. six minutes past the hour. stay with us. whoa. whoa. how do you top great vacations? whoa. getting twice the points on great vacations. whoa! use chase sapphire preferred and now get two times the points on travel, and two times the points on dining and no foreign transaction fees. whoa! chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. apply now at chasesapphire.com/preferred and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy.

i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. seven minutes past the hour. we'll turn back the clock to the end of the iron curtain and fall of communism in shamp seeing massive protests in moscow, something we haven't seen in two decades. as phil bloack reports, people are upset with the recent election results but aren't quite ready for revolution. >> reporter: it became obvious quickly this was going to be a big crowd. people crossed the moscow river and poured into the square. there were tens of thousands,

many wearing ribbons, some carrying flowers. they were loud. [ cheering ] >> reporter: but they only showed their frustration through words? why are you here today? >> well, actually, it's not only myself here as you can see. >> reporter: no, tens of thousands. >> absolutely. i want to say it's most educative, most responsible part of russian society joined to deliver a single message. as the current government is not legal. >> i'm a little bit -- of course, i can be a little bit angry because they told me, give us free time hear our positions and so, and then give us your free time to come and vote. then i see that my vote is not -- my country does not really need my vote. >> i feel that my vote that i kept for so long was stolen. i decided to try and influence the destiny of my country. i came to the polling station.

i cussed about the ballots. and it's stolen. >> reporter: these people describe themselves -- few describe themselves as political, but they felt strongly enough to join the protest. this is a sight that hasn't been seen around the russian capital for two decades. tens of thousands in one place calling for political change. for many of the people here, they're determined to make one point. that is that they do not want a revolution. >> listen to us. and we just want free elections. that's all. we don't want revolution. we just want free elections. >> reporter: is this a revolution, what we see, all these people? is this revolution? >> i don't think so. it's just to show that we are people, we are not population. >> people don't want revolution. they just want to -- for honest vote. they want to vote again. >> reporter: protesters say this has brought them hope, but they know it will take more than one

rally to achieve their goals. phil black, cnn, moscow. we're nine minutes past the hour now. stick with us. bonnie schneider is here with us this weekend. she's coming up next. got a couple of trouble spots in the country weatherwise. could cause you problems. stay with us. he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military, veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. and...an apology card. this is ridiculous. yeah, and it's got apps. nice. it's got vudu, twitter, facebook. no honey, not facebook. ♪ honey, you think my sweater's horrendous?

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view of this thing. of the west coast folks, i was blessed to see this, the lunar eclipse. a lot of our ireporters got to see this. rob chronkronk has given us pic. how rare do we see these things, bonnie? a full lunar eclipse, almost an hour long? >> it is rare. the next time we'll see a total eclipse will be april 15, 2014, a few years. there will be a partial one coming up in june. but to see something like this, we'll have to wait a few years. it's funny, you got such a great view, on the west coast it was still dark. for us in the east, the sun was up, we didn't see it. >> i was heading to the airport, forgot about it, looked up, that's cool. >> it's beautiful to see the red hue. nothing is exciting this morning except for some cold temperatures making it feel very much like december. look at this. we've got 25 degrees now in green bay. the temperatures are cold out there. they will be warming up, though, as we go through the afternoon a

little bit more. we'll be watching for more pleasant, bearable conditions. if you're up early on sunday in nashville, it is only 23 degrees. that's even colder than it was this time yesterday. let's look at what's going on in texas. it's nice to see the rain down there. it's always beneficial after the worst drought ever this past season. we're getting rain working through the dallas area. st. angelo and houston getting wet weather along the gulf coast. san antonio certainly could use the rain, as well as austin. it's definitely been incredibly dry there. this will all be beneficial. further to the north, we're monitoring fog out there. for those of you driving, maybe trying to catch some early sales or head to the airport, a lot of people are flying. we're looking at dense fog in the west, as well as light glaze of ice. visibility less than a father of a mile. we saw this yesterday. so it's not as widespread today. it's something to keep in mind in west texas because the freezing fog. that's when you have fog and it freezes, pause the temperature's so cold. overall lots of sunshine, colder

temperatures in the northeast, but not that cold. looking for a high today in boston of 40. i can tell you that a lot of residents there, i used to live there, saying, hey, we want it to get colder. it's new england. it's been mild so far in the northeast. i know it's been cold in the south. in the northeast, it hasn't been that cold. haven't seen a blast of snow yet. >> they're actually saying they want it to get colder? >> the hearty new englanders want it cold in december. >> bonnie schneider, always good to have you with us. thank you very much. about 14 minutes past the hour. a newlywed couple, they had the chicago police to thanks for making their big day, yes, their wedding day, happen the right way. you're seeing c.j. and his fiancee. the thing is, they had their car stolen thursday. the wedding dress was in the trunk. friday, a consume of cops saw the car, stopped the car. the wedding dress was still in it. the officers got the car and, yes, the dress back to the

couple hours before the wedding. the couple certainly thankful to the chicago police department for their timely crime fighting that allowed the day to happen. coming up, a letter of apology and two $100 bills. a shoplifting in michigan who's paying up some 30 years later. what's this? it's progresso's new loaded potato with bacon. it's good. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens,

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we're 18 minutes past the hour now. give you a check of stories making news across the country. we start in providence, rhode island, with the familiar chant. we are the 99%! >> the occupy movement takes its message to the state house. the occupy demonstrators were joined by people advocating for affordable housing.

rhode island is one of only nine states that does not have ongoing funding for low-income housing. [ chanting ] check out this holiday pub crawl in san francisco. several hundred people dressed as santas, elves, even reindeer on the streets and in the bars for what's known as santa con. one popular bar had 400 santas in house at one point. they were advised to pay with cash and tip the bar staff well. you can imagine, they did. in howell, michigan, a shoplifter with a change of heart 30 years later. the owner of country squire fireplace and lighting opened a letter and two crisp bills fell out. >> the money fell out first. two crisp $100. >> sorry to say that i took that and left. >> the letter writer signed it "remorseful." the storeowner says the money will go to charity. okay. the shoplifter got the payback

idea after hearing a story about a man in seattle. he recently repaid money he'd stolen from a sears cash register 60 years ago. so finally, a clear conscience for both of those folks. but i want your confession this morning. send it to me on twitter at tjholmes -- you can post on our facebook page or blog, as well. given those stories of people who are now paying up for stealing something some 30 years ago or 60 years ago, what would you like to confess this morning? doesn't have to be a theft, but what would you like to confess and make amends? maybe i'll have one, as well. so, 20 minutes past the hour now. who is your favorite cnn hero? our all-star tribute is tonight. 8:00 eastern time. one outstanding nominee, bruno serrato. a california chef who's been handing out free pasta dinners to underprivileged kids every day since 2005.

check him out. i came to this country it 0 years ago. i was -- 30 years ago. i love to cook. to be in the restaurant business, you must love people. here's your lunch, ladies. in 2005, my mom was on vacation from italy. i said, let's go to the boys and girls school. there was a little boy, 5 years old, eating potato chips for his dinner. he was a motel kid. i found that a poor family has nothing else but to live in a motel. the motel environment is extremely bad. drugs, prostitution, alcohol, it's horrible. when they go back after school, there's no dinner, there's no money. the moms say, oh -- mom said, bruno, you must feed them pasta. i listened to my mama. mynition now is feeding -- my mission now is feeding hungry children. when the recession came,

customers dropped and the children doubled. i don't give the kids leftovers. i cook up fresh pasta. >> bruno brings a tray in, and all the kids get excited. >> are you hungry? >> it's good to get a free dinner. >> right now we are between 150 to 200 kids seven days a week. who want the pasta? my mom made this start, now i could never stop. i will see you soon. they are customers. my favorite customers. >> you can see the top nominees and their causes by tune information to cnn live tonight, 8:00 eastern. cnn "heroes" an all-star tribute. a city famous for fantasy, a real-life drama unfolding on hollywood's sunset boulevard. stay with us. ♪

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25 minutes past the hour now. welcome back to this cnn saturday morning. we start with politics, and some stuff you may have missed last night. you know there's just three weeks left until the iowa caucuses. there was another republican presidential debate last night in iowa. i know what you're thinking, not another one. we get something out of each and every one of these things. no doubt newt gingrich was the focus. we have more from a friend of our show on saturday and sunday morning, founder, susan jane politics. >> good morning. >> another debate. these things are always something. >> they're always interesting. i have gone 12 for 12. seen every one. >> this one was different because we have a new front-runner, newt gingrich. clearly everyone coming after him. everybody wants to pick winners and losers. did you see some last night? >> i did. i will put newt gingrich at the top of that list. he came out, very confident, very assertive. whenever anybody attacked him and he was attacked by everybody

frequently, he went point for point. and even if he disagreed and they had a better argument, he's going -- he stuck with his position, going to stand by what i said before. that's newt gingrich putting himself out there on the issues but contrasting himself with mitt romney and saying, i'm sticking by what i believe in. >> you know, sometimes they try to -- get at you so much, you finally see someone lose their cool. he kept his cool. >> who didn't keep his cool? mitt romney. lost it a little bit. this is a first debate that mitt romney got way back on his heels and made an unbelievable blunder at a moment when he offered to bet his friend rick perry $10,000. i bet you're wrong, $10,000. and could you do anything to make yourself less relatable to the american people? >> there is no way in the world that they planned that. they knew these attacks were coming. do you think he had a bad moment, or do you think they saw a political advantage and talk good it ahead of time? >> i think they told him, go back against people coming after

you, look strong, tough. i do not think any consultant in america would tell you to bet $10,000, especially if you're mitt romney and trying to convince people that you can relate to them and they can relate to you. especially during these tough times. >> $10,000 bet. rick perry, he's trying to find his footing and get back to the top tier. he went after newt gingrich on one thing that people might not be surprised about. take a listen. >> individuals who have been -- infidelity with their spouse, i think that sends a very powerful message. if you will cheated on your wife, if you will cheat on your spouse, then why wouldn't you cheat on your business partner? or why wouldn't you cheat on anybody for that matter? >> you see that look there. gingrich is giving him, as he's talking about infidelity. newt gingrich has addressed this plenty of times. even though he wasn't directly talking to him, does it -- will they gain an advantage at least to keep it on people's minds? remember, this guy had three

wives and cheated -- >> i think it helps candidates. especially in states like iowa and south carolina, you have a huge evangelical population. many are still bothered by -- by new port rich newt gingrich's infidelity, including cheating on his second wife. evangelical christians may vote for him. i think rick perry handled it well and went directly after him without going too directly after him. >> is it fair game? i've made mistakes and had to reach out to god. is it still fair game? >> i think it's fair game especially in a republican primary where there are value voters. to his credit, i think that newt gingrich responded effectively and said that i have asked for fof gi forgiveness and been given forgiveness by my family and church. it was a good moment for both. if you were pulling for rick perry, you felt he had a good moment. if you were in newt gingrich's

corner, he did answer that effectively. >> i asked winners, losers off the top. you said clear winner, newt gingrich. who were the losers? >> i do think that mitt romney had a bad night. i think to rick santorum was not nearly as strong as he needed to be to break out. michele bachmann, incredibly strong. did herself a lot of favors. let's just say jon huntsman, not on the stage at all. a total afterthought. he's not pulling high enough in iowa to even get invited to this debate. he was not mentioned, had nothing to do but -- i don't know what he did. had pizza at home. >> all right. patricia murphy, always good to see you. >> always a pleasure. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> we'll see you again. newt gingrich, he's riding high as we know with this latest controversial comment that you might have heard about palestinians. with the surge in the polls comes renewed focus, yes, on his past. our tom foreman reporting for us, gingrich's personal life is now about to be a part of the discussion.

newt gingrich! >> reporter: newt gingrich's private life has been seen as an achilles heel for the republican firebrand. strongly associated with the conservative base, he clearly relished that role when president clinton was found having an affair with without intern monica lewinsky and trying to hide it from investigators. gingrich called his actions -- >> the most systemic, deliberate obstruction of justice, cover-up, an effort to avoid the truth we have ever seen in american history. >> reporter: later, however, gingrich's own personal issues came to light. married three times, he was famously in the process of divorcing his first wife jackie while she was recovering from cancer. the couple had two daughters, the split reportedly bitter and contentious. he was married to his second wife, mary ann, for close to 19 years. they separated at one point, reconciled, but in the end that ended badly, too, with the revolution that gingrich was

having an affair with an aide who was some 20 years younger. moreover, that relationship was secretly underway even as he pushed for the president's impeachment in relation to the lewinsky affair. he later proclaimed this and the other affairs were the outgrowth of overwork. >> there's no question that at times in my life, partially driven by how passionately i felt about this country, that i worked far too hard. and that things happened in my life that were not appropriate. >> reporter: he eventually married that former aide, his third and current wife, calista. they've before together for 11 years now. he's made some seemingly large accommodations to keep the union strong. he was raised lutheran, was baptist for years, but became a catholic for her. the question is -- has his troubled personal past been converted into the kind of history that conservative voters can forget or forgive?

tom foreman, cnn, washington. just past the bottom of the hour now. you see that shaking chandelier there? this is from mexico city. this was just one of the things, an indicator of a 6.5-magnitude earthquake. happened about 100 miles southwest of the capital. the state-run news agency reports at least two deaths in guerrero state. no major damage reported in mexico city. but the mayor tweeted that several areas lost power. also in hollywood, a 26-year-old man goes on a shooting rampage on sunset boulevard, firing at passing cars and causing drivers to swerve to avoid the shots. three people were wounded, the gunman was shot and killed when he pointed his gun at a police officer. the man's ex-girlfriend telling ktla that a recent breakup could have triggered the shooting spree. also in pakistan, the u.s. military has completed its pull-out from pakistan's air base there.

islamabad set a december 7th deadline after an air strike that killed four soldiers in the northwest area near the border. the pace was one -- the base was one of two used by u.s. troops. the head of u.s. forces wants to triple the number of armed afghans being paid by nato to protect the villages. this plan to beef up security has been described as a "community watch with ak-47s." . nick walsh telling us about this. were some people surprised to hear about this new plan? >> reporter: well, no. this is something that the u.s. special forces headed by admiral william mcraven has been an advocate of for quite some time. the question is really, will they receive support from the afghan government. there had been talk when the plan was first initiated, it took persuading to come around to the idea. there are definite advantages here that the admiral pointed

out. the force of 30,000 will cost about $170 million a year. sounds like a lot to you and me. in terms of afghan security, it's pretty cheap. the admiral in a rare interview, he rarely talks in the media, talked about how this force will be advantageous because it's local men looking after their own communities. of course, there are questions about this. human rights watch has accused these groups, already 9,800 of the guys in the country, that could grow to 3,000 under the plan. they've been accused of abuses. something admiral mcraven was keen to deny but a potential problem as we move forward. >> how rare is this, to get the information, to get this kind of access frankly and get mcraven talking to reporters? >> reporter: he doesn't talk to the media very much. we were called to a compound here and were surprised that he was the person we were called to speak to. remarkable access. a frank and open discussion in many ways. part of the special forces

community. i think a bid to open up slightly more. certainly the key thing everybody wants to talk about was the osama bin laden raid which mcraven was the key architect of. at the end of that, that's not something he ever discussed on record or ever will. he was keen to defend another controversial part of america's strategy here in afghanistan. that's night raids. disliked by afghans because they're seen as intrusive into afghan homes and because they have at times killed civilians in the crossfire. he said they're valuable if they're trying to find somebody trying to hide, i quote. and in the last year there have been 2,800 raids of various descriptions. in those of the people killed, only 1% were civilians killed in err error. there was a bid to trump afghan commandos before the special forces, when the raids happen, to remove that sense of foreigners invading afghan homes that they dislike so much. there still is clear daylight between his position advocating the raids and what president karzai wants, which is for them to stop.

t.j.? >> our nick walsh in kabul. thank you very much. 2011 has been a year of nonstop breaking news. cnn has covered it all. you can go to cnn.com/topstories to cast your vote for the top ten stories of 2011. join us on december 30 to find out whether your picks made the final cut as newsroom and cnn.com unveil the top ten stories of the year. we've got 14 days and counting until christmas morning. we've got a massive, massive santa sighting in san francisco to tell you about. stay with us on this cnn sunday morning. accept it. you can't change the way banking works. just accept it, man. free ? doesn't close at five ? try nature. it's a bank. what do you want, a hug ? just accept it. hidden fees, fine print, or they'll stick it to you some other way. stay with the herd, son. accept it. just accept it. accept it. just accept it. accept it. if we miss this movie, you're dead. if you're stuck accepting banking nonsense,

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northeast. it won't last. it will get cold soon enough. it always does. and we'll be looking at very chilly temperatures because right now the temperatures are cold in the midwest. all that cold air will come east soon enough. we've got a brisk one in green bay. 25 degrees. good morning. 19 in detroit. even colder there. also in the 20s in the south. charlotte, north carolina, at 28 degrees this hour. georgia, milder, at 50 and 57 in jacksonville. wet weather that's beneficial for texas, it's really going to help things because the drought is severe there. we're seeing rain working its way across areas into dallas later this morning and houston, too. this may impact your travel. here's a look at some of the air travel delays we're looking at for today. we're anticipating some out west due to fog. san diego. seattle facing showers once again. l.a., your weather will get worse today and monday, as well. look for afternoon showers. windy in chicago and rain intermittently across florida, rip currents, too. hazardous driving conditions with low visibility. if you're doing your holiday

shopping, you'll be finding that across the areas of the mountains west. we're looking at a light glaze of ice with visibility less than a quarter mile in west texas. that's due to freezing fog limiting your visibility. unstable with a stationary front lingering in areas of south florida. it will be cold up into the great lakes region. unsettled out west, but sunny pretty much everywhere else. the weather looks nice as you can see across much of the country. we're looking at temperatures into the 50s across most places. then we'll be looking at milder weather into tomorrow, as well. i think overall this weekend has been nice and calm for holiday shoppers. it is really busy out there. if you've been out and about on the roads, it's been -- a lot of people trying to get their shopping done early. i tell you, a lot of traffic going on. >> his a wake-up call a second ago, saying we're two weeks away from christmas. >> that is soon. >> yeah. that's coming up. i've got teamwork do. bonnie schneider, thank you very much. yes, two weeks from christmas. why were their hundreds of santa

sightings reported yesterday in san francisco? it's the annual santacon. brought out hundreds of santas, yes, red suits included. there were elves, reindeer, whatever you call them, the usual north pole entourage there. this was the fifth annual santacon. bars like the business and say the holiday patrons are usually well behaved for the most part. the gift list thing probably has something to do with that. it's a big pub crawl. 42 minutes past the hour. it was once a huge u.s. base in iraq. now it's a ghost town. cnn going in depthd .

43 minutes past the hour.

congratulations to baylor university. their first-ever heisman trophy winner. they've got one now. junior quarterback, robert griffin iii, selected as 77th heisman trophy winner. he beat out stanford quarterback andrew luck. runner up for the second consecutive year. luck will be the overall number one draft pick in the draft. he was only the second best last night. griffin -- listen to the season he had. 4,000 yards, 36 touchdowns, six interceptions. he's the 32nd quarterback to win the heisman. this is the second year that we have seen a quarterback win -- of course, it was cam newton last year. this is one popular guy in waco. congratulations to him. no need to tell our loyal viewers here that serving in the u.s. military -- serving in the u.s. military that the annual army/navy football game is in the books. you know that. the folks watching on the american forces network right now. it was fitting that the commander in chief, he was there. he handled the coin toss.

check this out. >> president obama, would you do us the honor and flip the coin? let it hit the ground. tails is the call. it is tails. [ applause ] >> yeah. army won the coin toss. not much else. navy's 10th consecutive win in the rivalry game that dates back to the 1890s. also this week, president obama and the first lady will thank u.s. troops for their service in iraq. they're going to head to ft. bragg in north carolina wednesday to speak directly to the troops there and to members of the armed forces and their families everywhere. ft. bragg is home to several r airborne units and special forces. and cnn goes in depth to the final days of the war in iraq. camp ader was once a major u.s. base in southern iraq. now it's a ghost town. in some cases, it looks like troops just got up and left everything behind. we have this report.

>> reporter: these days, camp ader in southern iraq looks like some mad max truck stop where convoys departing for kuwait carry away the war. >> we're bringing cargo from the northern bases, taking it south due to the drawdown of iraq. >> reporter: like all the remaining u.s. bases here, its days are numbered, and it shows. away from the truck lots, homes abandoned. the housing trailers sit silent with only reminders someone once lived there. something still does -- a rabbit. someone's pet. nobody gets left behind in the military, but bunnies apparently do. more than 14,000 troops once lived here. for security reasons i can't tell you how many remain. let's just say a lot less. the last hot meal was served before thanksgiving. laundry service ends today. so this is interesting -- this appears to be a substantial

battle first aid kit. a trauma kit here, tourniquet, even splints. and it's all been abandoned, left in the open. apparently you can take what you need, right by the emergency sign. >> this is where the p.x. used to be on the left. closed down about a month and a half ago. over here, by these walls here, that used to be the barber shop. >> reporter: for those still here, there's less and less to do. the satellite tv and internet are all gone. fast food just an afterthought. what's left will either be handed over to the iraqis or the dumpster. there's plenty here, i mean, if you need an old refrigerator, couple of office chairs. satellite dish. it's like they should have had a good garage sale. we found the doctor still in. >> this is like an emergency room back home. someone gets injured or is sick, they would come here.

monopo >> reporter: the medical team will stay until the very end. others are leaving every day. as more and more at camp adder, the war is becoming just a memory. cnn, camp adder, iraq. >> all this week we'll have in-depth coverage of the pull-out from iraq. you can watch it throughout the week for the final hour and days of the war in iraq. 500 lashes and then a year in jail? could you handle it? an australian citizen may have to. we'll tell you what this person is accused of, where they're being accused, and why his family says it will kill him. so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money.

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[♪...] >> announcer: now get a $250 airfare credit, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. certain restrictions apply. nine minutes off the top of the hour. good morning tonadic -- morning to nadia. 500 lashes and jail, what did this guy do? >> mr. el-haribi went to saudi arabia, on a pilgrimage to medina. there he was accused of blasphemy. he was arrested in november. on wednesday this week, he was

sentenced to first two years -- it was reduced to one -- and 500 lashes for blasphemy. apparently, according to authorities hookersy sa authorities, he said something bad about the prophet mohammed and his family. i find it ironic because he went there to pay homage to muhammad. we don't know what he said because the saudi arabian authorities have been very quiet about this. obviously it's caused this huge international reaction. the people who are responding are the australian officials saying this is absolutely preposterous, and his family are saying the man has diabetes, he has back problems. he will never survive 500 lashes. >> when it supposed to be carried out? he was just sentenced. >> it remains to be seen. remember, in saudi arabia, they practice a puritanical strain of islam known as wahabiism. lashings as a sentence is not unusual. remember you and i earlier this year did the story of a woman for driving who was sentenced to

ten lashes. then it was rescinded by king abdullah. there was the concept that he was becoming more of a reformer. this sentence at this point has not been revoked. so it does remain to be seen. one would think with all of this international attention, with the australian officials at the highest levels weighing in, that this will not happen. so let's see if, in fact, he ever does get his 500 lashes, or let's hope not. interestingly enough, in thailand, another story about freedom of speech. a thai-born american has just got 2 1/2 years in thailand for what they say an insult to the monarchy. what he did was he took the illegal -- well, the banned biography of the king of thailand. and he translated it into english. now this is the unauthorized biography. so what he got when he went back to thailand for doing that, just an unauthorized biography, not

totally complimentary to the royal family in thailand, 2 1/2 years. >> again, did i hear you right -- he didn't write it, he translate it. >> he just translated it into english. for doing that, 2 1/2 years. what do the stories show us again? how we value freedom of speech in this country. something we take for granted. so there in saudi arabia, mr. el-haribi, 500 lashes and a year for so-called blasphemy. then joe gordon in thailand, 2 1/2 years simply for speaking out against the king of thailand, who by the way is 84 and the longest reigning monarch in the world. >> you can say anything about anybody in this country almost and get away with. unfortunately, some people don't need to be talking, it seems. still, you have the right to say what you want to say. >> that's what the stories make us realize and appreciate what we have. please don't say anything you feel like, especially not today. >> nadia with the "morning

passport." always a pleasure. we'll see you again shortly. a shoplifter confessing and returning the money 30 years after the crime. we asked you to weigh in this morning on some of your confessions. right here, it's a sunday. go head, confess. sharkybradshaw saying, "i'd like to confess that i think i have a little crush on gary tuchman." stay with us. he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military, veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa.

did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪

look at that gorgeous shot, washington, d.c. it belies some of the back and forth that happens at the capitol. still, a gorgeous picture. good morning to you, washington, d.c. washington, you got anything you want to confess to me this morning? earlier we were telling you about a person in michigan who had a change of heart. a shoplifter who sent a store $200, 30 years after stealing a glass fireplace door. we asked you for your responses. asking you, hey, go ahead, let it out, get it off your chest this morning on cnn sunday morning. confess to whatever you'd like. one from dougie says, "i'd like

to confess that i found a wallet in a yellow cab. i rushed the wallet, however after taking the money out." thief! i swear. another saying here, "i stole the affections of a boy -- from a friend." that's just awful. also another saying, "there is no way i'm giving money back after 30 years. sorry." coming up on the top of the hour this cnn sunday morning. hello on this december 11. i'm t.j. holmes. newt gingrich, he was the target of last night's gop presidential debate in iowa. yes, another debate. once again, fireworks, and once again, we learned something new. how exactly did the new front-runner handle the attacks? also, another black eye for major league baseball. one of its young stars, ryan braun, may be forced to sit out for 50 games next year for

breaking the rules. yes. this is the face of the brewers and a national league mvp. we'll tell you what he's accused of doing. we'll start with some of the headlines this morning. get you caught up on stuff you may have missed overnight including that republican presidential debate in iowa. the new front-runner, newt gingrich, he was the target of much of the night. his rivals coming at him from all angles. mitt romney called him a career politician. rick perry even brought up marital infidelity. almost all criticized his comment when he called the palestinians an invented people. we'll have more on this debate coming up in just a moment. also, american forces have left an air base in pakistan and taken their drone planes with them. pakistan told the u.s. to leave the base after a nato air strike killed two dozen pakistani soldiers last month. today was the deadline pakistan gave for all 51 americans to leave that base. also, manuel noriega is on his way back to panama. the former leader is being sent

back by the french government to possibly face a trial for the killing of one of his political rivals. noriega was removed from power by u.s. forces 22 years ago. he spent two decades in a u.s. prison before heading to france. and the amateur athletic union also known as the aau says it's now working with police to investigate allegations of sexual abuse against former director robert "bobby" dodd. two men say dodd molested them when they played on one of his basketball teams back in the 1980s. the 63-year-old dodd left the aau last month. he was undergoing treatment for colon cancer. the aau says dodd denied the allegations when they first surfaced last month. and the national league mvp, ryan braun, could miss the first 50 games of next year because he has now tested positive for a banned substance. espn is reporting that synthetic testosterone was found in braun's system when he was tested during the playoffs in

october. braun is now appealing the test. a spokesperson for braun says there were highly unusual circumstances surrounding the case and that the milwaukee brewers all-star never intentionally violated policy. also another sports story that's ugly, literally ugly. look at these pictures. this is in cincinnati. the crosstown shoot-out that became a brawl. this was xavier and the university of cincinnati. one of xavier's players started taunting players and coaches on the cincinnati bench. a lot of folks you're seeing in the video are going to end up suspended no doubt after officials review the tape. also in the post-game comment, it might have been uglier, this scene, because some of the players from xavier said, hey, we've got gangsters in our locker room, not thugs but gangsters. we're still trying to figure out what in the world this kid was talking about. more on this story a little later. also, want to get back to last night's republican presidential debate. our deputy political director

paul steinhauser was there and has the fireworks, and there were plenty. some of you may have missed it. >> reporter: as expected, the new front-runner of the race, newt gingrich, was in the line of fire. from questions over his conservative credentials to his controversial comments over the palestinian people to his acknowledgment of marital infidelity, newt gingrich came under attack from his rivals for the republican presidential nomination. here's how it played out. >> we have differences of viewpoint on some issues. but the real difference i believe is our backgrounds. i spent my life in the private sector. i understand how the economy works. >> let's be candid, the only reason you didn't become a career politician is because you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. >> wait a second. we're going to tell the truth, but we're not going to throw incendiary words into a place which is a boiling pot when our friends, the israelis, would probably say, what in the world are you doing? >> i think sometimes it is helpful to have a president of the united states with the courage to tell the truth as it was ronald reagan who went around his entire national security apparatus to call the

soviet union an evil empire. >> if you will cheat on your wife, if you will cheat on your spouse, then why wouldn't you cheat on your business partner? or why wouldn't you cheat on anybody for that matter? >> i have made mistakes at times, i've had to go to god for forgiveness, i've had to seek reconciliation. i'm also a 68-year-old grandfather. and i think people have to measure who i am now and when i'm not a person they can trust. >> reporter: call this round one. the republican presidential candidates team up again on thursday night for another debate right here in iowa. and on tuesday, that marks just three weeks until the iowa caucuses. the first contest in the presidential primary and caucus calendar. for these candidates, the clock is definitely ticking. t.j.? >> thanks to paul steinhauser. four minutes past the hour. stargazers got a treat about this time yesterday. something amazing, a total lunar eclipse. bob kronk, one of our ireporters, sent this video. about to check in with weather and bonnie schneider, let me bring you in here, bonnie. you were telling me this is pretty rare. we got a treat last night. >> we real de, especially people

on the west coast. t.j., you got the chance to see the bright red hue over the moon. beautiful colors. a lot of pictures coming from san francisco and the pacific northwest where we saw terrific colors. the problem for the east coasters is the sun came up, and we missed it. we have to wait again to a partial eclipse that will occur in june. then the next total lunar eclipse will be april 15. a day we all know, the deadline, right? >> tax day -- >> not until 2014. that's funny. we'll never forget the date. so we missed it, but it's definitely going to be back again. >> amazing how the guys can plan it out. they know exactly when the next will happen. >> it is. >> back to weather -- >> back to earth. >> i'm still dealing with this comment you made earlier, that people in the northeast want it to be colder. >> some people do. >> some. you said all -- >> did i say all? >> no, you didn't. >> i didn't mean to. no. i think some people in new england have been commenting that it's been record -- record warm temperatures, for example, in boston. it's been incredibly mild so far for november and december. obviously it's not going to

last. we will see the cold weather. we're seeing it now a little further to the west. in the midwest. that's where temperatures are really chilly out there this morning. it is 27 in milwaukee. and 20 in detroit. went up by one degree. it's also cold down south for sure. 22 in nashville at this hour. and it's just above freezing in atlanta, georgia. let's take you live outside our studios and show you what it looks like in atlanta. centennial park, the lights are on. there's a little traffic. well, there was a car earlier. there it is. another one. it's early here. it's 34 degrees. it's been pretty chilly in the overnight period. we'll see a nice warmup to about low 50s. wet weather in texas. i'll tell you, that's beneficial. the rain that's moving in there is so needed. we'll take what we can get. the deficit has been pretty high. it's the ninth driest period on record for san antonio. the third driest ever for austin. unfortunately it's going to take a while to catch up with the wet weather. we're also looking at freezing fog in texas. that's going to lower visibility. be careful of a little glaze on the roads, as well.

most of the country, though, faring nicely for this sunday in december. some scattered showers on the east coast of florida, also watch out for rip currents because it's going to be unsettled due to the end of the stationary front. nothing we're watching very closely is the storm system developing in california. now this is important because as it works east over the next few days, it will be a storm-maker for areas in the center of the country by the time we get to wednesday. right now our concern is for clouds and fog to develop over california. you can see it gets more intense for monday. so if you're heading to l.a. or san diego on monday or you're flying out of there, that's where i anticipate airport delays to start off the week. it also becomes quite unsettled through the south. that includes atlanta. so we have more rain in the forecast this week. we could use the rain, too. it's definitely going to be a little cold out there. we're -- we're coming into our cold period now, officially, in december. >> right. bonnie schneider, always good to have you with us. thank you very much. we'll see you again here shortly. it's about seven minutes past the hour. that time of year, you're starting to think of that perfect gift.

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coming up on 12 minutes past

the hour. give you a look at stories making news across the country. we start in providence, rhode island, with a familiar chant. we are the 99%! >> the occupy movement takes its message to the state house. the occupy demonstrators were joined by people advocating for affordable housing. rhode island is one of only nine states that does not have ongoing funding for low-income housing. [ chanting ] check out this holiday pub crawl in san francisco. several hundred people dressed as santas, elves, even rain deer-- even reindeers. santacon. they were asked to pay with cash and tip the bar staff well, you can imagine they did. also in howell, michigan, a shoplifter with a change of heart 30 years later. the owner of country squire

fireplace and lighting opened a letter, and two crisp bills fell out. >> the money fell out first. two crisp $100 bills. "sorry to say that i took that glass door and left." >> the writer signed it "remorseful." the storeowner says the money will go to charity. well, the shoplifter in the story got the payback idea after hearing a story about a man in seattle. that man recently repaid money he had stolen from a sears cash register 60 years ago. finally a clear conscience for both of those two people. but what about you? continue to send in your comments -- i'm reading them now, i'm on twitter, @tjholmes, keep that up on set. some of you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. you can post it on the facebook page and on the blog at cnn.com/tj. continue to send them in. what would you like to confess this morning? we'll read more in a moment. also, if you're looking for something for the adventurous

man or woman who has everything, perhaps you can find your way up to minnesota. it requires this to be a bit of a sddestructive streak in the person you're shopping for. we find it at a drienve-a-tank. >> reporter: meet larry. a 120,000-pound chieftan battle tank. here you can drive it -- >> told me to call a tow truck. >> reporter: and crush almost anything you want. i find larry about an hour south of my hometown. >> we are at the drive-a-tank world headquarters in kasota, minnesota. >> reporter: don't you know? >> you betcha. >> reporter: marie and her son tony own seven tanks. for $500 a pop, people get the ride of their life. >> we imported them in pairs. we got two, then we got two more

and two more. >> we had an investment banker from saudi arabia stop by. i've had a group of engineers come from all around the world. there's one from india, china. >> reporter: these puppies are all brits. $6,000 to $8 -- $60,000 to $80,000 a pop. turns out you can't buy american tanks. >> you've got to be a thinker to have these. it's not like just anybody can keep them running. >> reporter: you have to take a safety class before getting behind the wheel. wow. >> you're here to drive tanks and shoot some guns. do we have any questions so far? >> reporter: this is where we'll drive them. take a look. we're in the middle of the woods. >> drive a tank, we can get it together! boo-yah! >> reporter: meet rick, driving instructor of sorts. >> boo-yah! boo-yah! >> felt like a real life-sized g.i. joe. perfect for a mid-life crisis. >> what do you get for the man who has everything but a tank? >> reporter: don't even think of

trying to shoot it. these guns don't have fire. >> disneyland for an army retiree. >> reporter: now my time. going into the hatch. how do you brake? girls rule! here we go. >> slow down a little bit. pull right. pull right. pull right. good job. >> whoo! >> yeehaw! we'll stop then. >> reporter: i only hit one tree. >> well -- [ bleep ]. >> reporter: i hit a tree? >> slow down. there you go. nicked a couple, but turned out pretty good. >> reporter: half the folks that drive them are women. >> women love to be in charge, have power. a tank is -- that's about as cool as it gets. >> we had one gal that came in a camel skirt and flip-flops. >> reporter: at the end of the day, you get to do this -- [ gunfire ] >> woohoo! >> reporter: in kasota, minnesota, poppy harlow, cnn.

>> to each his or her own. we're 16 minutes past the hour. we'll take a quick break and will be right back. from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible. all right, i'll be right back. okay. ♪ [ male announcer ] sometimes the giving can be just as amazing as the gift. what do you think? [ laughs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer for exclusive lease offers

on the 2012 ct 200h and, as a gift from lexus, we'll make your first month's payment. did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte,

with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪

20 minutes past the hour on this cnn sunday morning. i've been reading some of your all's comments on twitter about making confessions this morning. a lot of you going too far. we appreciate you participating in the show. let's move on to a sight we see every single year. just a special tribute at arlington national cemetery. it will be there over the next several days. talking about 90,000 wreaths. each with a single red bow. they grace every single grave,

every single headstone. athena jones was there as thousands of volunteers took part in this wreath across america. >> reporter: t.j., thousands fanned out across the grounds of the arlington national cemetery, laying wreaths on the graves of fallen service members as part of wreaths across america day. [ applause ] >> bless and protect our men and women -- >> reporter: a tribute to our nation's fallen. >> it's my way of paying respect. >> definitely a beautiful thing to see how many have come. >> reporter: a tradition that began in 1992 when a couple from maine donated 5,000 wreaths their company had left over near the end of the holiday season to be laid on headstones here at arlington national cemetery. >> we have the freedoms that we have because of those who serve and those who have served and lost their lives. >> reporter: 20 years later, the organization has expanded with volunteers, veterans, and loved ones of fallen service members laying wreaths at more than 740 ceremonies all over the country,

and some 25 locations overseas this year. >> it's awesome to be here and to see -- to see the patriotic people out here volunteering, giving their time, giving their weekend. >> reporter: at arlington, more than 10,000 people laid some 90,000 holiday wreaths on headstones as part of the group's mission to remember, honor, and teach. it was an emotional time for some. joann's son josh was killed in iraq. wreaths across america flew her up from florida. >> this is the first time i've seen my son's headstone. this is my first trip back since we buried him almost five years ago. >> reporter: dina hernandez was deployed with josh and says she owes her life to him for defending her military convoy from enemy fire. >> i felt a personal debt to him. we were in a convoy, and i was a driver and came under fire. and he was the gunner on my truck that killed some of the enemy combatants and pretty much directly saved our truck and the rest of our convoy.

>> reporter: early saturday, a different kind of convoy arrived at arlington. volunteers lined up for wreaths, and in a matter of hours the cemetery was transformed. >> it's beautiful when you look at it after the wreaths are placed on the gravesites. very emotional. i'm a very emotional guy anyhow. but this brings back a lot of memories to me. not that i did anything near what these people have done. >> reporter: a special and important day at arlington and at cemeteries across the country. as one volunteer who told me in explaining his decision to take part, they've done so much, and i've done so little. t.j.? >> all right, thanks to our athena jones. 23 minutes past the hour. we're going to turn to the front lines in afghanistan. [ gunfire ] >> gets down!

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earlier we were telling you about a shoplifter in michigan with a change of heart. he or she had stolen $200 some 30 years ago after stealing a glass fireplace, sent the money in 30 years later. we want you to confess something. we got a ton of responses, we had to sanitize a bunch of them. a lot of you talking about boyfriends and friends' boyfriends, stuff we can't use. here's one we got from someone you may know. of "basketball wives l.a." fame jackiechristie. not what you would expect from a woman known as a villain on the show. she wrote, "i would like to confess that in grade school, i would sneak candy in my backpack and eat it when i wasn't supposed to."

not so bad, right? another from dougie said, "i'd like to confess i once found a wallet. i returned the wallet, however after taking the money out." thank you for your responses. we'll keep that conversation going this morning. want to turn now to a story from our barbara starr. a rare look at a war that's gone on for a decade. u.s. marines released their own personal footage of a fire-fight in afghanistan. look at this. [ gunfire ] reloading! >> gets you out of nowhere. i'm in a sleeping bag still. so -- all of a sudden you hear the flare going on, rpg. then fire starts going off. >> just to the northwest of us, across the helmand river. they have a ridge line up there. there's caves in the ridgeline that they'll crawl into, and they engage us from there. [ gunfire ] >> there's guns and ammo. by the time -- a couple hours, we were like -- probably had 100

still left, and that was it. just got really bad real quick. [ gunfire ] >> get down! get down! >> idf, 30-millimeter grenades hitting inside the compound. getting close, real close. a casualty. took a couple casualties. you hear about people being battle tested. this one tested the boys. >> have to get him on the bird as fast as possible. >> one hell of a day. i mean, this day you're thinking, yeah, regular patrol, any other day. a hint happening that way. i mean, it teaches a lot of people -- everyone's got to be ready from now on. you never know what's going to happen from now on. we lost one person, injuries. who knows what's going to happen next.